Land theftRogue settler bulldozes 150 dunums of Al-Khader land under cover of darkAn Israeli settler destroyed at least 10 dunums of Palestinian land and
damaged at least 140 more when he drove a bulldozer over agricultural
land near the town of Al-Khader on Friday. The settler, who appeared to be acting alone, left the illegal West
Bank settlement of Efrata with a bulldozer in the early hours of Friday
morning and dug a road down the center of a large swath of a land
growing almond trees and grapevines, crushing hundreds of plants under
the wheels of the vehicle. The land, in the Abu Bkir area just outside the center of town, is
privately owned by several Al-Khader families. Locals said the settler
appears to be attempting to confiscate the land and impose “de facto”
realities preventing Palestinians from using it.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37519

IDF missile threat drill: Absorption of thousands in Samaria(IsraelNN.com)
Samaria (Shomron) Regional Council head Gershon Mesika says that the
wide open expanses of the hilltops and valleys of his municipal council
are the answer to the dangerous population density in the Tel Aviv
region. The army and other government bodies recently held an exercise
for emergency scenarios in Samaria. Among them was a drill for the
emergency absorption of thousands of Jews in the region. Samaria, also
known as the northern part of the West Bank, is the large
hilly area in the middle of Israel which lies just north of Jerusalem
and east of Tel Aviv. Since Jewish towns [colonies] exist there
alongside Arab
villages, it is widely assumed that Arab enemies would be less likely
to attack the region for fear of harming Arab/Muslim population
centers. ... [Meshika writes,]“The more we encourage citizens to leave
the low-lying and crowded Gush
Dan area and move to Samaria, the more the State of Israel will thus
reduce the non-conventional threat it faces – especially the threat
emanating from Iran’s nuclear plant in Bushehr.” http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131116

Yesha harvest 2009: Wine and settlementsWinery
owners wish to expand approved project to include the building of
several vacation homes next to their vineyard, only a km away from
illegal outpost Migron -- ...The owners pay a hefty 17 Euro fee on
every bottle as a 'fine' for growing and producing the beverage in the
West Bank. But despite the resulting high price of the bottles, the
vineyard is able to find buyers abroad and the owners display with
pride prizes that their vintages have won in Europe. Meanwhile, the
project has expanded beyond a mere vineyard. Now that a road to the
area has been paved, some 20 vacation homes are expected to be built
next to the vineyard. In this way, the commercial vineyard will lead to
wider projects, including residential areas.http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709217,00.html

Salah: IOA built more than 100 synagogues around the Aqsa Mosque
MILAN, (PIC)-- Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement
in the 1948 occupied Palestine, has said that the Israeli occupation
authority was intensifying its judaization campaign of occupied
Jerusalem, citing the construction of more than 100 synagogues around
the holy Aqsa Mosque. He said during a Friday Khutba (sermon) in Milan,
Italy, that the IOA was leveling Palestinian homes surrounding the
Aqsa, noting that the excavations under the holy site over the past 40
years had led to a network of tunnels that included a synagogue and a
Hebrew museum.http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

On Israeli settlement freeze, public has Obama's back
By Robert Naiman.There have been hints in the press that the Obama Administration has
been considering conditioning U.S. aid to Israel on a real freeze of
Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. There's a conventional
wisdom that suggests that doing this would touch a "third rail of
politics." But the conventional wisdom might not have been accurate; if
it once was accurate, it might not be accurate any more. WorldPublicOpinion.org has just released a poll showing
that three-quarters of Americans oppose Israeli settlement
expansion in the West Bank. This number is up 23 points from 2002. Even
among respondents who say they sympathize with Israel more than
the Palestinians, 64% say Israel should not build settlements in the
West Bank.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/on-israeli-settlement-fre_b_194751.html

Israeli attacks

Two Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on southern GazaTwo Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike carried out
against smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on
Saturday ... [They] were identified as Jehad Abu Jarad and Hamdan Al-Astal, both in their
20s. A third Palestinian is possibly still missing, Hasaneen added.
Following three months of near-silence on the borders, Israel's air
force carried out three airstrikes aimed at underground tunnels on the
Al-Barazil area of southern Gaza on Saturday, during which five
Palestinians were lightly injured, and were also transferred to Abu
Yousef An-Najjar Hospital for treatment. Targets included a group of
fighters, a farmer, and smuggling tunnels.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37529

Israeli forces breach Gaza borders in four attacks Saturday; four injuredIsraeli
forces entered the Gaza Strip at 7am on Saturday morning in
response to projectile fire from the northern Strip and clashed with
forces from the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the
An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades. The second incident saw Israeli fire
injure a Palestinian farmer in the
southern Gaza Strip village of Khuza’a east of Khan Younis. He was
tending his lands at the time of the incident and evacuated to
hospital. Israeli warplanes launched two raids on tunnels under the
Egypt-Gaza border on Saturday, injuring three Palestinians.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37511

Soldiers shoot two Palestinians in Hebron-area village
Two Palestinians were shot amid clashes with settlers that erupted in
the Kharbat Safa village near the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday.
A number of Israeli settlers from the illegal Jewish settlement of Bet
Ayn attacked residents of the village, leading to the two injuries,
both reportedly gunshots fired by the Israeli army. "One of those who was injured sustained a bullet wound in the back,
while the other was hit in the thigh and both were transferred to local
hospitals in Hebron," a paramedic told Ma'an.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37528

ReliefWeb: Israeli forces open fire on Gaza farmers; eyewitnessesGaza City_(dpa) _ Israeli forces on Saturday opened fire at
Palestinian farmers near the security fence in south-east Gaza Strip
and sent ground troops into the other end of the coastal territory,
according to eyetwitness accounts.The farmers were working their land in the Faraheen area in the
east of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip when they came
under machine gun fire from the Israeli army posts on the border, the
witnesses said ... Meanwhile, three Israeli bulldozers, backed by two tanks, rolled for a
few hundreds of meters into Beit Lahiya town, an agricultural community
in the northern Gaza Strip. Residents said the bulldozers leveled some
groves and withdrew later in the morning.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/RMOI-7RNMKU?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Palestinians hurt following spat with West Bank settlersTwo Palestinians were lightly injured Friday following
confrontations with settlers near Havat Gilad in the Samaria region.
One of the Palestinians was hurt by rocks hurled at him and the other
from an aerosol spray of a yet-to-be-determined nature. The spat broke
out following a dispute over agricultural practices in the area. Samaria local council officials said that a group of
about 25 Palestinians arrived around noon to the vicinity of Havat
Gilad and began tending to [Palestinian!] lands that constitute part of the
[illegal] settlement's fields.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082372.html

On eve of papal visit, Israeli police attack Palestinian Christian
The Palestinian who lives on Latin Patriarch Street in East Jerusalem,
Samer Andrea Karkar, was assaulted near an Italian restaurant and
store, both of which he owns, on the same street. Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli police had prevented Palestinian
residents from passing through the street under the pretext that it was
being renovated before the pope's visit. When Samer tried to convince
the police to allow his sister and her sleeping children to return
home, police ordered him to leave one of them behind, for reasons that
were not immediately clear.
Police then told Samer that they "do not want to see him on the entire
street" and eventually threw him on the ground, while other police
officers beat him so severely that he was ultimately taken for
treatment at Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem. Police have been telling the residents and store owners in the East
Jerusalem neighborhood that the area will be shut down for the pope's
visit, and that residents should stay inside their homes for the
duration of his visit, without attempting to leave them.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37499

Ten Palestinians lightly injured at Bethlehem-area [Ma`sara] protestThe Palestinians choked on tear gas, causing a few of them to faint,
including Shaher Sa'ed, secretary-general of the Union of Palestinian
Workers, as well as Franco Beneti, an Italian official within the
Council of Italian Workers, and union activist Muna Jubran, who was
struck by tear-gas canisters and stun grenades.
Other demonstrators were arrested, among them an Italian union official
and activists from the Popular Committee Against the Wall, including
Azmi Ash-Shyukhi and brothers Hasan and Mohammad Buriejieyah.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37498

Israel to investigate soldiers on charges of robbery and abuse in Dura
The Israeli army will investigate the case of 31-year-old Ayish Ajawi
who reported being illegally detained, blindfolded, beaten, robbed and
harassed during one of the regular Israeli invasions into the West
Bank. The army said no formal complaint was been filed by Ajawi, who instead
reported the incident to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem which
in turn reported the event to Israeli military authorities ... Despite documented cases of assault and brutality several other
investigations and criminal suits against Israeli soldiers have ended
in light or no punishment for soldiers.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37482

Fighters fire mortars at undercover forces invading JabaliaThe Salah Ed Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance
Committee, reported Saturday that its fighters fired three mortar
shells at undercover forces invading an areas east of Jabalia, in the
northern part of the Gaza Strip. The Brigades said that the undercover forces invaded the area at 7 on
Saturday morning, and that its fighters clashes with them and fired
three mortars at them forcing the troops to retreat.http://imemc.org/article/60213
PFLP affiliates fire on Israeli watchtower near Gaza crossingArmed
Palestinians affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility on Saturday for targeting
Israeli military cameras and a watchtower in Gaza. Palestinian snipers
opened fire on the military posts near the Nahal Oz
crossing point, according to a statement from the Abu Ali Mustafa
Brigades, the armed wing of the PFLP. "The attack comes within a
continued confrontation against the [Israeli] occupation," the
statement added. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37526

Siege

Letters: Reality of gaining access to GazaBill Rammell is disingenuous when he says that the UK does not control access to Gaza
(Letters, 28 April). He knows the Egyptians require those wanting to
cross the border to have a letter from their embassy. Only the British
have consistently refused to provide a letter, which is why British
doctors, psychiatrists and lawyers have been turned away and denied
access to Gaza via the Rafah crossing. Whatever arrangement the UK
reached with Israel on access to Gaza, it is not working. The siege continues and the humanitarian disaster is deepening.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/02/gaza-israel-palestine

Anyone would think from this that the Israelis and Egyptians had nothing to do with it:Cancer patients trapped in Gaza while factions duke it outHundreds of Palestinian patients have been
trapped in the Gaza Strip, unable to travel abroad for crucial
treatment for cancer and other diseases, because of political
infighting between Hamas and its rival secular faction, Fatah. Eight Gazans who were waiting to travel
abroad have died since the crisis began in March, when the dispute shut
down a medical referral committee that helps sick residents find
treatment outside of Gaza, according to the World Health Organization. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709490,00.html

European campaign criticizes world slackness in dealing with Gaza siege
BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza Strip
has criticized the world community's slackness in dealing with the
"oppressive" Israeli siege on the Strip that has been ongoing for three
years. It said in a statement on Saturday that the UN and other
international organizations' concern and denunciation did not change
the bad situation in Gaza and did not absolve those organizations of
their responsibility.http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Collaboration

Hamas: PA seized 146 affiliates during AprilThe
Hamas movement on Saturday accused Palestinian Authority security
departments in the West Bank of seizing 146 affiliates and three
Islamic Jihad members during the month of April. In its monthly report,
the movement also accused the PA of "eliminating
all resistance factions, deleting the culture and thought of
resistance." It added that the PA had kidnapped women to pressure their
husbands to force them to surrender, giving examples of the wives of
ex-prisoner Ahmad Abu Al-I’zz and the widow of Mustafa Nofal. The Hamas
report also accused the PA of torturing political prisoners ... The
report concluded by accusing PA security forces of breaking into a
number of mosqueshttp://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37520

Mada report: 257 violations of media freedom in Palestine during 2008The West Bank and Gaza witnessed 257 violations of media freedoms
during 2008. Of those, 147 were committed by Israeli settlers and
military, and 110 by Palestinian security services and armed groups in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The report counted 51 Israeli arrests and detainments, and the closure
of four media broadcasting stations across the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Rival Hamas-Fatah violence also contributed to the poor media situation
in Palestinian areas, the report found, and counted 60 journalists
arrested or detained and some tortured by West Bank and Gaza Strip
security forces.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37523

Palestinian women settlement workers' plight
By Sarah Irving. Umm Raed's sick husband
hasn't worked in more than 20 years. Her own family can't, or won't,
help support her and her seven children. So her job in the Royalife
factory in the Barkan industrial zone, built on illegally confiscated
Palestinian land in the Salfit governorate in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank, was the household's main source of income. But since autumn 2008, Umm Raed and a number of other women from her
village have been out of a job. Sick of low pay, dangerous conditions
and bullying treatment, in the summer workers at the factory took
action.http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10492.shtml

Tighter enforcement for PA workers
(IsraelNN.com) The IDF's Civil Administration plans to impose sanctions
on Palestinian Authority Arabs who violate the terms of their work
permits. Those who do not return to PA-controlled areas by the time
specified on their permit could lose the right to work in pre-1967
Israel, warned government officials. Workers will be tracked by a
computerized system that will record the times at which they pass
through manned crossings along the Judea and Samaria separation
barrier. The workers will now be required to return home from work via
one of the several crossings where the system is in effect. ...
According to PA government figures, more than 70,000 PA Arabs work in
Israel legally. Most are from Judea and Samaria. In recent years, many
PA Arab workers have been replaced by foreign
workers who work in fields including construction, agriculture and
private health care. Roughly 100,000 foreign citizens currently work
legally in Israel, as do several thousand Sudanese refugees.http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131144

Palestinians mark International Workers Day in JerusalemUnder strict Israeli measures and ongoing violations against Arab
neighborhoods in occupied Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians marched
in Jerusalem marking May Day in the heart of Jerusalem, in Mount Olive,
expressing determination and steadfastness of the Palestinians in the
city. Hatim Abdul-Qader, an advisor to president Mahmoud Abbas, Shaher
Saad, secretary-general of the Palestinian Workers Union, and several
officials and representatives of workers groups participated in the
procession, in addition to representatives of American, Norwegian and
Italian unions.http://imemc.org/article/60211

Israeli archaeology department refuses to return artifact from Al-Aqsa compound
Head of the Israeli archeology department Shai Friedman refused to
return an Umayyad-era artifact “stolen from the Umayyad Palaces in the
southern part of the Al-Aqsa compound a month ago,” said Palestinian
lawmaker Hatim Abdul Qadir.
According to the Jerusalem affairs official, the ancient stone was
transferred to the courtyard of the Israeli Knesset on Friday, and
Israeli officials have stonewalled requests to have the stone returned
to the Al-Aqsa compound. Abdul Qadir has threatened to file a suit at the International High
Court of Justice against the Israeli archeology department for stealing
artifacts belonging to Palestinians. He added that a representative of
the UNESCO would be invited to attend hearings in court.http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37506

Haredi women get special tour of West Bank separation fenceAn unusual delegation visited East Jerusalem's Abu
Dis neighborhood two days ago, sparking the curiosity of many
Palestinian residents. Some of them already recognize the group's
guide, Shaul Arieli, from the Geneva Initiative, who periodically
brings groups to the area to personally acquaint them with the West
Bank separation fence, which bisects the neighborhood. But on this particular day, the group, comprised mostly of
ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, was greeted with astonished stares. The
women, for their part, were focused on Arieli as he explained to them
why he feels the fence harms Israel's interests, just as retaining
control over Palestinian neighborhoods does. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082361.html

Netanyahu candidate Michael Oren tapped as US envoyDr. Michael Oren is set to be appointed Israeli
ambassador to Washington after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman added
his endorsement over the weekend.
The cabinet must now approve the appointment at its weekly meeting Sunday. Oren, a visiting Georgetown University professor,
said in a lecture there last month, "The only alternative for Israel to
save itself as a Jewish state is by unilaterally withdrawing from the
West Bank and evacuating most of the settlements."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082409.html

Regrettable statistical error
B.
Michael says Independence Day report that Jews comprise 75% of Israel’s
population inaccurate -- ...However, it appears that these figures were
tainted by a regrettable error. The source of the error has to do with
the strange existence of what is known around here as the Green line.
According to the data provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics and
by the CIA, the Israeli government rules over 11.43 million people at
this time. Of those, 5.6 million people are Jewish, while 5.83 million
people are not Jewish (2.46 million Palestinians in the West Bank, 1.55
million Palestinians residing in the Gaza Strip, 1.5 million
Palestinians who are citizens of the State of Israel, and another 0.32
million people characterized as “other non-Jews.”) Therefore, the
accurate figures are in fact as follows: A total of 49% Jews and 51%
non-Jews currently live across the territory of the Israeli empire. Indeed, we may start referring to ourselves as “members of the minority.”http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709436,00.html

Israel-Palestine is already a de facto single state
By
Antony Lerman. ...one state exists. It has not been formally
proclaimed. It has
no legal status. No one wants to acknowledge it. But it's hard to see
Israeli control of the area of the pre-1967 state, the West Bank and
Gaza as constituting anything other than one, de facto state ...
"Israel continues to control the joint Gaza Strip-West Bank population
registry", even though formal authority for administering the
population registry was transferred to the PA under the second Oslo
Agreement of 1995. "By controlling the population registry," says
B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the
Occupied Territories, "Israel continues to determine who is a
'Palestinian resident' and who is a 'foreigner'."http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/29/israel-palestine-one-state-solution

The ten tribesBy Gideon Levy. ...Despite the impressive national recruitment, the
(sometimes imposed) Hebraicizing of names, service in the Israel
Defense Forces, ingathering of the exiles and integration, Israel has
remained a tribal, multinational, multiethnic and multicultural
immigrant society. First, one-quarter of the Jewish state's population
is not Jewish, and one-fifth are members of the Arab nation. The
language of the Arabs in Israel, their world, culture and viewpoints
certainly do not allow them to be part of "the Israeli people."
Excluded, discriminated against, ostracized, alienated, and secluded in
their towns and villages, they certainly are not part of the tribal
campfire. The same is true, but to a lesser extent, of the 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Fact - even the "Mizrahim", most of whom have lived
here for around 50 years, are still a separate tribe. Possibly due to
discrimination and other reasons, they have not found a respectable
place in the country's elite.http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082194.html

One Voice: manufacturing consent for Israeli apartheid
By Ali Abunimah. How do Palestinians living
under Israeli military occupation and siege see their world, especially
after Israel's massacre of more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in
the occupied Gaza Strip three months ago? Two recent surveys shed light on this question, although one --
published on 22 April by the pro-Israel organization One Voice --
appears intended to influence international opinion in a direction more
amenable to Israel, rather than to record faithfully the views of
Palestinians or Israelis http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10497.shtml

Nakba is not a dirty word!
By Amaya Galil of Zochrot.
As I spoke with people about the nakba, and learned more about it, I
began to ask myself questions and began to get worried. A crack opened
in what I had known, and in my identity. The crack made me continue
questioning. This educational process allows me to rethink my life
here. The nakba isn't only the Palestinian's memory and history. It's
also an event that is a part of my individual and collective memory and
identity as an Israeli. The Israeli collective memory emphasizes the
Jewish-national history of the country, and mostly denies its
Palestinian past. We, as a society and as individuals, are unwilling to
accept responsibility for the injustice done to the Palestinians, which
allows us to continue living here. http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=682:qnakba-is-not-a-dirty-wordq&catid=85:diaries&Itemid=283

Israel swallowing West BankBy
As'ad Abdul Rahman. When Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in
mid-2007, a new interim government - headed by Dr Salam Fayyad - was
formed in the West Bank. Immediately, some politicians promised that
the West Bank, unlike the besieged Gaza Strip, would be transformed
into a flourishing economy. Fayyad was keen on emphasising his
intention to turn the West Bank, in terms of economy, into "another
Israel".http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10309514.html

Clinton's unpromising startBy Ramzy Baroud. ...if recent comments made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suffice
as a general indication of the administration's Middle East policy,
then little change is on the horizon.
Clinton told US legislators on 23 April that the key to peace between
Israel and the Palestinians was Tehran; that without getting tough on
Iran, Israel could not be expected to pursue peace with the
Palestinians. "The two go hand in hand," she emphasized. What a baffling approach to peacemaking. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37517

Film review: Lemon Tree
In the last few years the Israeli Arab actress Hiam Abbass has become a
cinematic force of nature - an Anna Magnani of the Middle East. US
moviegoers know her as the mother in "The Visitor," but her best recent
role was probably the bride's older sister in 2004's "The Syrian
Bride," wearily coping with the ruinous surrealism of borders and
national identity. That film's writer-director, Eran Riklis, has put Abbass front and
center in his latest film, "Lemon Tree," and while it's a lesser work
than "Bride" - more obviously symbolic, overly forced in its plotting -
the star rewards her director's trust with a performance that keeps
shooting out unexpected tendrils of observation.http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2009/05/01/lemon_tree/

Half life of a toxic war: Iraq's wrecked environment
By Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank. The ecological effects of war,
like its horrific toll on human life, are exponential. When the Bush
administration (parts one and two) and its congressional allies sent
troops to Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime, they not only ordered
these men and women to commit crimes against humanity, they also
commanded them to perpetrate crimes against nature. Former Chief United
Nations Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, prior to the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, said the environmental consequences of the Iraq war could be more
ominous than the issue of war and peace itself. Blix was right.http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair05012009.html

Pilgrims put faith in fragile peace
By Alice Fordham. Karbala -- A pilgrimage to Karbala would, even a year ago, have been
too risky for all but the most devout. The 80-kilometre Baghdad-Karbala
motorway runs a gauntlet of what were some of post-invasion Iraq’s most
dangerous areas ... But today, the fighting in Dora has ebbed, the checkpoints are manned
by the Iraqi army and pilgrims are coming back to Karbala – and other
holy places – in droves ... But even as holy sites such as Karbala and Najaf are attracting
pilgrims and investment, they are again becoming targets for suicide
bombers, who, some say, want to upset Iraq’s stability and religious
tolerance.http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090502/FOREIGN/705019882/1002/rss

US drops spy charges against two ex-AIPAC officialsFederal prosecutors moved Friday to dismiss
espionage-related charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists
accused of disclosing classified U.S. defense information, ending a
tortuous inside-the-Beltway legal battle rife with national security
intrigue.
Acting U.S. Attorney Dana Boente said the government
moved to dismiss the charges in the drawn-out case after concluding
that pretrial rulings would make it too difficult for the government to
prove its case.
Boente also said he was worried that classified information would be disclosed at trial.http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082375.html

Hamas: US diplomacy's final frontier(TIME) ...But if Israel's new government is making the Obama team anxious,
it's nothing compared with the government that could be coming together
next door in the Palestinian territories - where President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party may join hands with the Islamist militants of Hamas.
That's a problem, since the U.S. won't have anything to do with Hamas
or any government in which it takes part. A few months ago, when Hamas
was at odds with Abbas and at war with Israel, that was an easy
position to take. But now it's becoming harder. And sooner or later,
the U.S. may have to come to the same painful realization it has
arrived at in Iraq and Afghanistan: the only thing worse than talking to terrorists is not talking to them. (Read "Rift Between Hamas and Fatah Grows After Gaza.") In a way, Hamas is the final frontier.http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090502/wl_time/08599189522600

Ex-spy sits down with Islamists and the WestBEIRUT, Lebanon -- Talking to Islamists is the new order of the day in Washington and London.
The Obama administration wants a dialogue with Iran, and the British
Foreign Office has decided to reopen diplomatic contacts with Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group based here. But
for several years, small groups of Western diplomats have made quiet
trips to Beirut for confidential sessions with members of Hamas,
Hezbollah and other Islamist groups they did not want to be seen
talking to. In hotel conference rooms, they would warily shake hands,
then spend hours listening and hashing out accusations of terrorism on
one side and imperial arrogance on the other. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/world/middleeast/02crooke.html?partner=rss&emc=rss